Christopher Crawford: Documentary Photography

Bloodstained Men

Driving down Coliseum Boulevard in Fort Wayne on the morning of September 28, 2016, I saw a group of men wearing white clothes with red stained crotches holding a protest at the corner of Coliseum Boulevard and Coldwater Road. I stopped to photograph them.

The men, and a couple of women, belonged to a group called Bloodstained Men. They were protesting the circumcision of newborn baby boys, which is routinely done in the United States unless the parents object.

In most of the world, only Jewish and Muslim boys are circumcised, since those religions require it. The practice became common among Christians in the United States in the late 19th Century when fundamentalist Christian leaders became obsessed with masturbation, which they believed to be both sinful and unhealthy. It was believed that circumcised boys were less likely to masturbate. It was also claimed that circumcision prevented infections.

The group was traveling from Chicago to New York and back, stopping in major cities along the route to hold protests in each city.